CITY OF OCONOMOWOC - While the majority of the common council wanted the Rosenow Creek Trail project to move forward, a budget amendment in the proposal led to the project not having enough votes.

At the Dec. 18 meeting, the council took up the issue of awarding a contract for the project to Janke General Contractors, Inc., which had the low bid of $529,567. Included in the resolution was a budget amendment due to an omission in the 2019 Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) budget process of $268,567.

The council voted in favor of the project, 5-3, but a budget amendment needed a two-thirds majority, meaning six votes or more.

Project overview

According to John Kelliher, Oconomowoc's director of parks, recreation and forestry, the Rosenow Creek Trail project included the Wood Creek Park development.

"Components of the project include expanding Wood Creek Park to include a trail, butterfly and bee habitat areas, native flower beds, seating areas and identification signage and landscaping," Kelliher wrote in a memo to the common council. "Public feedback during the public information meeting was supportive of these components and staff was encouraged by the residents to maintain the natural setting."

Kelliher said the trail portion of the project included boardwalk areas over wetlands, paved pathways, seating areas, culvert replacement and connectivity to the property east of Rosenow Creek, which would allow for pedestrian access and use.

The trail, which was planned for pedestrians and bicyclists, would have been a half-mile long and 10 feet wide. It would have been located along the Rosenow Creek from Lisbon Road on the south end to Highway Z on the north end.

Budget amendment

According to Kelliher, the 2018 LTFP authorized staff to proceed with engineering and design for the Wood Creek Park expansion. The construction component in the amount of $395,000 was removed by council for the 2018 LTFP because actual construction of the project would not occur until 2019.

During the 2019 budget process, the construction component for Wood Creek Park was omitted from the LTFP request by error. Kelliher said based on this error, to complete the project as designed, staff requested a budget amendment in the amount of $268,567, which would have utilized the parks impact fee fund.

The Rosenow Creek Trail portion of the project was $300,000. As part of the project, Kelliher and his staff recommended the direct purchases of trailhead, identification signage ($15,000), trash cans, bike racks, benches ($12,000) and trees, native plantings, landscaping ($12,000).

Alderman Matt Rosek thought the city would have spent too much on the project.

"When I add these numbers up we're at about $720,000 for this entire project for a half a mile path along, arguably, a creek/little tiny river that goes from one road to another," Rosek said. "And really, it doesn't go anywhere or connect to anything other than the Wood Creek Park. I think we're overspending. I think it's too big of a project and too much expense for that area."

Rosek thought the project needed to be re-evaluated.

"I'm lost on this project," Rosek said. "I think we need to go back to the drawing board on this. This is way too expensive. This is not what I think we had in mind.

"I think the costs have gone up because we're going through a lot more wetland than we thought we were going to go through, and that's a problem. People already complain about going through wetlands as it is."

During the discussion, the council voted 5-3 to amend the proposal to not pave 800 feet of the path. But even with the amendment, the proposal fell one vote shy of being approved.

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